Most are women in their 40s whose wealth rose fabulously along with China's breakneck growth in recent decades, says founder Sarah Jane Ho.

Their parents survived traumatic hardships under the late leader Mao Zedong, while their children enjoy privileged lives exposed to Western concepts. And they are caught in a constant culture shock, says Ho.

Although, perhaps the real reason China has made it isn't the existence of an elitist finishing school but rather the fact that the $16,000 it costs is a trivial sum to those who enroll.

Ho says her students "easily spend three times that amount" to acquire the furs or jewellery introduced in class.